During this season, time extends for hours after the sun has disappeared and before it’s time to go to bed. After an evening walk in the cold to experience the blue glow of moonlight on fallen snow, the perfect time sets in for journal writing.

A swirl of traditions, some widespread across cultures and others unique to your family, gather around the winter season. In a journal, this time works well for considering how a cycle may pause at its deepest, darkest point before turning to move steadily toward the light. Many winter holiday traditions focus on that image of solstice as a signal of change and hope.

The annual repetition of rituals and customs can also draw attention to powerful changes that have taken place between the past and now. This time around, more of us are gathered in the house to hail the special day–or maybe fewer.  Someone is missing who formed an important part of the festivities in years past. A dear new arrival is celebrating with us for the first time. That changing presence in the house, whether waxing or waning, brings a snow-drift surge of reflections and feelings that may find their way into your journal.

Late December also marks the turn of a calendar year. The most popular time to begin a new journal or start a new volume is January 1.

So when the chill and darkness bring on a sense of isolation, or when the brightly colored bustle, noise, and pressure of social expectations begin to overwhelm, think of the people who sit in many different locations but share in the same community, each one writing a new year’s date at the top of a new year’s first entry. The group includes curious newcomers taking up a blank notebook for the first time and experienced journal-writers committing to renew their practice for yet another not-yet-explored, still-in-the-future year.  Join us!